Big 12 blog

Reid started 18 games as a freshman and sophomore at OSU. However, he was better known for what occurred his junior year in 2007 after Gundy’s news conference rant against an Oklahoma City columnist, who depicted Reid in an unflattering — and Gundy claimed unfair and inaccurate — manner. The video of Gundy’s reaction went viral.

“I’m not a kid,” Gundy said on Sept. 22, 2007, defending Reid. “Write something about me, or our coaches. Don’t write about a kid that does everything right, [whose] heart’s broken and then say that the coaches said he was scared. That ain’t true!”

Oklahoma State president Burns Hargis told ESPN in October 2011 that Gundy’s rant “in kind of a perverse way, I think actually helped the program.”

“In the sense I think a lot of players and parents appreciated the way he stood up like that for one of his players,” Hargis said. “They say the only bad publicity is an obituary, but I do think it sent a strong message to his players and possible recruits that this guy will stand up for his players. It was complete passion, sincere and genuine. He was speaking straight from his heart. I think it was a net plus.”